Tag: Alabama Crimson Tide

We’re tragically already halfway through the 2018 college football season, and while we don’t know if any teams are truly elite besides Alabama, one thing is certain – some of the stats thus far in the year are absolutely absurd. So head-scratching are some of these stats, in fact, that I can’t stop thinking about…

I wasn't trolling this spring when I wrote the College Football Playoff sorta sucks. Now, I really don't like to go into the first full Saturday of the season's Four Downs on a pessimistic note, but Week 1 offered plenty of reminder that the Playoff looms over everything with a Dracula-like presence, threatening to suck…

Week 0 was fun, but Thursday truly marks the beginning of the college football season. Week 1 Thursday as the sport's opening night is a relatively recent tradition, gaining traction in the first half of the 2000s. Unlike the ESPN 2 Sunday night slate of the early 2000s or marquee Week 0 kickoffs, Thursday Opening…

Wedding anniversaries are broken down with titles that also hint at gift suggestions. One year, paper; five years, wood; 10 years, tin or aluminum (off-hand comment: that's kinda cheap, no?); 15th, crystal; 20th, china. Sports anniversaries rarely receive a moniker unless its silver (25 years) or golden (50). The consistency is that the celebration of…

Your Veteran Scribe spent two days (just over six hours each day) at Big 12 media days to start the week. YVS has been to dozens of these ganged-up mosh pits disguised as interview sessions. Rarely do these opportunities reveal much but there is reinforcement to an obvious epiphany: Most college football coaches are unaware…

Just a few years removed from the Mountain West Conference initiating an antitrust lawsuit against the Bowl Championship Series, and in the months following the most dubious BCS Championship Game in the system's history, college football's decision-makers adopted some form of playoff. The formal announcement came in the summer of 2012, with two seasons remaining…

The Open Man countdowns to the 2018 college football season with 129 — in honor of the 129 programs participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year — things we love (and some we hate) about the sport. Click the 129 Things tag to see every entry. I have a confession: I am addicted to college football…

The Open Man countdowns to the 2018 college football season with 129 — in honor of the 129 programs participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year — things we love (and some we hate) about the sport. Click the 129 Things tag to see every entry. Big-ticket home-and-home series are seem to be making a comeback,…

The Open Man countdowns to the 2018 college football season with 129 — in honor of the 129 programs participating in the Football Bowl Subdivision this year — things we love (and some we hate) about the sport. Click the 129 Things tag to see every entry. The College Football Playoff sucks. OK, that's not entirely true;…

Every season when the Oregon Ducks occupied residency in that same elite neighborhood as Alabama football, something happened to prevent a showdown. That they never played made for a fun debate, fueled by the complete juxtaposition in their styles. But as the Crimson Tide continued rolling along at peak level after the inaugural College Football…

Alabama football, for all its many All-Americans, NFL talents and national championship (real or conjured), never produced a Heisman Trophy before 2009. That factoid felt pertinent in the lead-up to the 2009 Heisman vote, which Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram won by a historically narrow margin over Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart's runner-up…

FACT: An SEC team has never lost to a 16-seed. — SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 17, 2018 Above is the SEC Network's contribution to the first-ever No. 16-seeded upset of a No. 1. Congratulations, SEC Network, on accomplishing a feat that would seem as impossible as a 16-over-1: Making me feel bad for that losing…

After last week's slate loaded with Top 25 matchups, this Saturday features just one. Nevertheless, conference play around college basketball presents some teams that have either underachieved or are in need of a major breakthrough with opportunities to emerge. This Saturday also features some intrigue from mid-major conferences, particularly those out West. Teams with viable…

This June marks the 20th anniversary of Michael Jordan's second, and what most would contend was the most meaningful, of his departures from the NBA. I still remember the end of Jordan's career with the Chicago Bulls vividly: I was attending basketball camp when I watched the poetic climax of his time with the organization…

When it comes to Alabama vs. Clemson, we've been spoiled. The last two games featuring these two teams have been epic. It was a treat to watch them play in the last two national championship games. When they face off in the Sugar Bowl Monday night, it will be just as much a treat. In…